NIHI Sumba unveils the Riding and Racquet Club, a beachfront sanctuary blending equestrian tradition, sporting club nostalgia, and the island’s untamed beauty, framed by horses.
Few images are as tied to NIHI Sumba as its Sandalwood ponies galloping along the shoreline, a presence woven into the resort’s identity since it opened. That connection now has a permanent home: the Riding & Racquet Club, a beachfront sanctuary built around equestrian tradition, the nostalgia of classic sporting clubs, and Sumba’s untamed landscape.
The Riding & Racquet Club brings together the Sandalwood Stables, an international tennis court, a clubhouse lounge and bar, a boutique, and the resort’s Monday-night Bakar di Kandang Kuda dining experience. Rather than functioning purely as a sports facility, the chic new venue is designed around moments, from a morning match with an ocean view, afternoons watching the horses return home, evenings under thatched ceilings as the island settles into sunset.
Designed by NIHI’s Founding Team
The club was shaped by NIHI founders James McBride and Chris Burch, alongside Creative Director Caroline Usher and design firm UBD Global, and continues the aesthetic that has defined NIHI’s other spaces, including rooms and lounges that read as collected rather than decorated, carrying the feel of a private residence built up over years of travel and memory.
Inside, the clubhouse draws on the atmosphere of the world’s classic polo lounges while staying rooted in Sumba. Rugged teak walls, high thatched ceilings, a deep forest-green bar, and warm amber lighting set the tone, layered with vintage polo mallets, antique wooden tennis racquets, equestrian ephemera, Sumbanese artefacts, and hand-carved wooden pieces.
Horses at the Centre
The terrace opens directly onto the Sandalwood Stables, keeping NIHI’s horses at the heart of the experience. The Sandalwood ponies — an ancient breed inseparable from Sumba’s identity — remain central to the club’s purpose, giving guests a way to engage with one of the island’s most significant living traditions beyond the riding arena itself.
In the evenings, the clubhouse bar becomes a gathering spot for golden-hour drinks and conversation, while Monday nights bring Bakar di Kandang Kuda, an open-fire feast held beneath the stars near the stables.
With the Riding & Racquet Club, NIHI Sumba adds another chapter to its relationship with the island, its people, and the Sandalwood horses long associated with the resort, a space built not only for guests, but as a tribute to Sumba itself.
